§ MR. CAINEasked the Judge Advocate General, How many punishments for drunkenness have been inflicted on soldiers stationed at Aldershot during the year 1881?
§ THE JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL (Mr. OSBORN MORGAN)Sir, I am sorry that, for the reasons I have already given, I cannot give my hon. Friend the precise information he asks. But, from what I have already told him, he will gather that the number of individual men punished for drunkenness in the Army during 1881 was between 120 and 130 per 1,000, and the number of punishments inflicted for the same offence about 230 per 1,000. Now, the average number of troops at Aldershot last year was about 11,500. If, therefore, he will multiply the figures I have given him by 11½, he will get the number both of men punished and punishments inflicted for drunkenness, assuming, that is to say, that the state of Aldershot as regards drunkenness is a correct specimen of that of the Army generally. I think, however, that it will be found that Aidershot contrasts favourably in this respect with barracks which are situate in the heart or on the outskirts of large towns, such as London or Manchester. But, even making allowance for this, and for the fact that a soldier is constantly punished for drunkenness where a civilian would escape with impunity, I must admit that the catalogue, though showing a decided improvement upon the state of things which existed only five or six years ago, is a very black one, and I can assure my hon. Friend that both my right hon. Friend (Mr. Childers) and myself are fully persuaded of the importance of the subject, and that whatever we, or the military authorities, can do shall be done to diminish the evils to which my hon. Friend—greatly, if he will allow me to say so, to his own credit, and greatly, also, to the advantage of the Service—has called attention.